OCU vs. Dallas Christian men's basketball preview

Stars aim to stay unbeaten this season

Alex James picked up three rebounds and a blocked shot against Randall.

Men's Basketball | 11/15/2016 12:07:00 PM

7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to build upon its season-opening win in a matchup with Dallas Christian.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID. If the Stars score 70 points, fans will get a prize from Raising Cane's. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City opened the regular season with a 94-68 win over Randall on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City. The Stars held a 51-30 edge over the Saints on the glass, and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.
Walter Rickett, a 6-foot-2 junior out of Dallas, scored a game-high 19 points in just 23 minutes of action off the bench. He also added six boards while shooting 7-for-9 and hitting his first six shots from the floor.
Lou Dunbar, a 6-3 junior from Seabrook, Texas, added 18 points, five rebounds and five steals while shooting 57.1 percent from 3-point range. Xavier Smith, a 6-9 senior from Richardson, Texas, posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three blocks and three steals.
The Stars rank second in NAIA Division I with 20.0 offensive rebounds per game. To see how OCU ranks statistically in the NAIA, click here.
OCU was ranked 18th in the preseason poll as the Stars were included among the preseason top 25 for the first time since 2008. The Stars have been picked to take second in the SAC according to the preseason coaches' poll. Oklahoma City owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU routed Dallas Christian 88-58 on Nov. 10, 2010 at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU holds a 5-0 edge in the matchups between the two schools.

ABOUT THE CRUSADERS: Dallas Christian dropped a 103-74 decision with Arkansas-Monticello at Steelman Fieldhouse on Saturday in Monticello, Ark. The Crusaders are still looking for their first win of the season, sitting at 0-7.
Trey Lindsey, a 6-2 guard, led the Crusader attack with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists against Monticello. Keldon Williams, a 6-3 guard, scored 14 points off the bench to go along with four rebounds. Dallas Christian won the Association of Christian College Athletics championships last season.
Dallas Christian is a part of the National Christian College Athletic Association and went 9-19 last season.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Vinay Patel enters his second season as OCU head coach. In his first year, Oklahoma City finished 15-11 and tied for second in the Sooner Athletic conference. Before coming to OCU, he spent one season as Rogers State's assistant coach and aided the Hillcats to a 20-8 season led by conference player of the year Frederico Santos. Patel spent nine years as assistant at West Texas A&M. During that time, West Texas went to the NCAA Division II Tournament five times, won the Lone Star Conference championship and took two Lone Star South Division titles. He elevated to the interim head-coaching position before he ended his time at West Texas A&M.
Chris Wilson recently took over as head coach of the Crusaders.

QUOTABLE: "I have high expectations for these players, and they have not met them yet. That's a good thing. Potential sometimes is a good thing because you hope they can build up strength and reach that potential." – Patel after the win against Randall

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest from OCU athletics through several ways.
Check out OCU athletics on several social media platforms by looking up the handle @ocustars. The Stars are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Fans can sign up to receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
Be sure to catch the OCU Athletics Update video program weekly on ocusports.com, the OCU YouTube Channel or on OCU Athletics' Facebook page. Click here to see the latest edition or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Follow the game via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $34.95 to see all 2016-17 home basketball games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2016-17.
Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes, in his sixth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for nine years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#1 Walter Rickett: G; 6' 2"; Junior

#11 Xavier Smith: C; 6' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#1 Walter Rickett
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G

#11 Xavier Smith
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar

#1 Walter Rickett

#11 Xavier Smith

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar

#1 Walter Rickett

#11 Xavier Smith